Review: SystemRescueCD

Takeaway:
SystemRescueCD contains a number of outstanding tools that can help you to troubleshoot and repair Linux desktops and servers, and Windows machines.

As much as information technology professionals don’t like it, there are times when emergency measures are necessary. You never know when a virus will take down a machine (or network), or a partition table will become corrupt. Because you never know what will strike (and when it will happen) it is always best to have a multitude of recovery tools available.

In some instances, it is as easy as restoring a previous image. But in other instances, you will have to resort to a rescue/recovery tool. SystemRescueCD is a Linux-based rescue disk that contains a number of outstanding tools that can help you to troubleshoot (and hopefully repair) Linux desktops, Linux servers, and Windows machines.

Who’s it for?

SystemRescueCD is an outstanding tool that aids the system administrator in the task of restoring partitions, troubleshooting boot manager (Grub and LILO), backing up windows partitions, burning critical data to CD (Requires SystemRescueCD to be run from USB) and much more. SystemRescueCD can be used in both Graphical and text mode which makes it very versatile for administrators.

What problem does it solve?

SystemRescueCD solves many problems for the administrator: Resize partitions, create partitions, recover lost partitions, recover lost data, boot disk creation, and much more.

Standout features

GnuParted, fdisk, Partimage: Partition editors/managers

Testdisk: Partition recovery

CD/DVD burner

Archiving and unarchiving

Support for many file systems

Windows registry editing (text only)

FreeDOS for memory testing and other hardware diagnostics

What’s wrong?

The biggest problem many users will come across is the fact that some of the tools are not as user-friendly as some of the tools they are used to. Add to that, the issue of the sometimes graphically-challenged machines which will render the administrator locked into text-only mode and SystemRescueCD can be as much of a challenge to use as the problems it is trying to fix.

Competitive products

Bottom line for business

If you are looking for yet another tool to add to your system rescue toolkit, you should not overlook SystemRescueCD. With a solid set of tools on a LiveCD it is a must have for serious system administrators. There might be a bit of a learning curve for some of the more difficult tools, but it is worth the time and effort.

User rating

Have you encountered or used SystemRescueCD? If so, what do you think? Rate your experience and compare the results to what other TechRepublic members think. Give your own personal review in the
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About Jack Wallen

Jack Wallen

Jack Wallen has been a writer for more than 12 years. Covering nearly all facets of technology as well as writing fiction, Jack's primary focus is on the Linux operating system and its effects on the open source and non-open source communities. Of course, Jack doesn't limit himself to just Linux! He also covers the Android mobile platform as well as Windows. .

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stupidest Linux "things"

And what is the name of this Microsoft built rescue CD? I am unaware of such an application. It is because of Linux that these tools are available and work so well, even on MS operating systems as...
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And what is the name of this Microsoft built rescue CD? I am unaware of such an application. It is because of Linux that these tools are available and work so well, even on MS operating systems as many here have attested too. Yes, there are many utilities available and trying to collect them in one place can be a task. That is why OSS developers have devoted their time and a lot of effort to build these live CD's. Not sure what your beef is?

Are you looking for an suite of utilities that run without user intervention making all the decisions on it's own? Tall order indeed, even for Microsoft.Or maybe I have missed your point?
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